Event Type:
Permanent Exhibition

Comments (49)

I've always had an interest in Dinosaurs and it's great to be able to see the bones each time I get to visit the Museum.
The new "Dinosaur Walk" setup was interesting, interactive and enjoyable but if only you can add more to the collection, I noticed that a "Tryseratops" and a "Stegosaurus" wasn't included, which would be great to see.
The main highlight for me during this visit was the small prehistoric bird skeleton which you have near a dinosaur found in Brisbane, and the "T-Rex" and "Velociraptor" which I couldn't help but have a little touch with my finger...... Sorry!.
I was so fascinated by the "Velociraptor" because at the time I had been reading 2 fictional novels by author Michael Crichton, "Jurassic Park" & "The Lost World", and to be able to actually see the full remains, size and of course the thick cerved claws on each foot was amazing.

Hi Sofie; the exhibition should be fine for that agegroup, my son (who is now 3) has been enjoying Dinosaur Walk since he was 18 months old, particularly enjoying the touchscreens and animations - hope this helps

Janelle
7 June, 2011 13:32

Hi, I was wondering if you could tell me the cost for 2 adults, a 1 yr old and a 4 year old. Also the best (and cheapest) place to park nearby.
Thanks so much.

Hi Janelle, Dinosaur Walk is one of the permanant exhibitions in Melbourne Museum, and is included in the General Admission to the Museum. Admission and car park information at the Melbourne Museum can be found at http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/visiting/; in addition to this there is also limited metered parlking on both Nicholson and Rathdowne Streets.

Most of the skeletons on display in Dinosaur Walk are composed of casts from molds of individual real dinosaur bones. These bone casts are composed of a lightweight synthetic material, but are the exact shape of the real fossils which they were cast from. These casts are reassembled by our preparation staff into the skeletons you see, in consultation with the latest research on dinosaur posture.

In addition to these skeletons, there are some examples of real dinosaur fossils in Dinosaur walk; the Hadrosaur tail under the glass on the ramp is entirely real and has not been reassembled in any way - it appears as it did when it was found (including skin impressions), and also an Apatosaurus (formerly Brontosaurus) leg bone, which is a touch object - we encourage visitors to feel this fossil to experience what real dionosaur fossils feel like.

Maddy Maus
10 December, 2011 20:30

I took my 4 year old brother to this and he loved it, (and I'll admit that it was pretty exciting to go see it again for me as well, I can't even remember the last time I went to see them)
Can't wait to go again. :)

Hi Hannah, you are allowed to take photos in most areas of the Museum, the exceptions being in the Bunjilaka Gallery where there are images of indigenous people and objects and also in parts of the Human Mind and Body Gallery where there are images of naked people. If you are in any doubt there are staff in the galleries who can answer your questions. There will also be a sign with an image of a camera with a line through it in any areas where you can't take photos.

Cody
7 April, 2012 17:44

I'm really interested in dinosaur but I really want to know about the different types of dinosaurs and maybe a few tips on ways to study and still keep interested. Also is there a way I might be able to help out around the Museum? I am not very old so can't do any day work, but is there anyway I might be able to help out? Maybe I could even write up a brochure. I just really want to get to know the dinosaurs well.
Thanks, Cody

Hi Cody - The 'Dinosaur Walk' and '600 Million Years' exhibitions here at Melbourne Museum are good introductions to Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, but there are countless other resources that would helpful for you to increase your knowledge. Most large Natural History Museums across the world have websites with a lot of useful resources, so some web surfing is a good start. As far as studying goes, a variety of Victorian Universities offer types of Palaeontology as post-graduate programs (Honours, Masters, PhD, etc) to various Science degrees; a good idea might be to look into some universities that might offer degrees that can lead to palaeontology. If you are interested in doing some work experience here at Melbourne Museum, you can find out more about this here.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

sheikh
2 August, 2012 14:18

Hi, really excited I'm going there tonight.
Is there a canteen around and do they come to life after you close.

Hi Sheikh, Glad you're excited about visiting Melbourne Museum tonight. The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia exhibition is the only part of the museum that is open on Thursday evenings. The exhibition and the adjacent Mesopotamia Cafe close at 9pm.

The Dinosaur Walk closes at 5pm, seven days per week. Unfortunately, you can't see the dinosaurs from the Mesopotamia exhibition so, unless you have excellent hearing, you won't be able to tell if they come to life after closing, or not.

Hi Aaron - Jurassic Park is science fiction, so no, there are no 'real live' dinosaurs here at Melbourne Museum in that sense. We do have some very alive-looking animatronic dinosaurs in the exhibition "600 Million Years - Victoria Evolves" which you can learn more about here, and of course we have a combination of real and cast fossil dinosaur bones on display. Other than that, the closest we have to real live dinosaurs would be the species of birds in our forest gallery - birds are now considered by many as a clade of Theropod dinosaurs.

Hope this helps

Karen
19 November, 2012 17:42

I plan on bringing my 4 year old grandson to the museum in January. Since we are coming from interstate can you tell me where the museum is so I can organise accommodation. Thanks ps can't wait to bring him

Hi Erika - there are no problems at all with prams in Dinosaur Walk, the perimeter of the display is on a flat floor, and the walkway that winds through the middle of the exhibition has both steps and a ramp at each end, designed for full accessibility. You may consider getting in earlier in the day, as this gallery can get busy during the holidays, but by all means bring your 18 month old, they should enjoy it, as we hope you do as well.

Sarah
8 January, 2013 11:54

Is this open 10.00-5.00pm everyday? And where do you best recommend to park or come by via public transport? This looks so exciting. Thank You. :)

Hi Andrew - Museum Victoria has a large amount of real dinosaur fossil bone in our Palaeontology collections, but complete skeletons are exceptionally rare - as much of the material in our research collections is from Australia, none of this is '100% complete', as it seems conditions in this part of the world were not right for preserving complete dinosaur skeletons, with much of our material being isolated bones and teeth.

Very few of these bones are found in association (that is, the bones were found together and were probably from the same individual). Having said that, the Science & Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum has real fossil dinosaur bones on display, some of which is partially articulated including the remains of a hadrosaur (including skin impressions) and a block of Triassic age sediment with numerous individuals of Coelophysis, along with a representative display of the fossil bones found at Victorian Dinosaur fossil localities such as Dinosaur Cove and Inverloch. The larger skeleton of dinosaurs also on display were orignally cast from real bone, but for the purposes of articulating the skeletons for display, real fossil material was not used

Meaghan
4 April, 2013 13:51

Just wondering how long this exhibit will be available to view? it will be very exciting to visit.

Hi Meaghan - Dinosaur Walk is a long-term exhibition here at Melbourne Museum; it opened in 2009 and will be on display for the next several years (at least) - it is located in our Science and Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum.

jann
17 April, 2013 21:02

Hi
I recently took my Brisbane grandchildren to exhibition of dinosaurs models that moved. Love to take Melbourne g,children to similar are you planning to have that exhibition in Melbourne?

Hi Jann - I assume the exhibition you saw at Brisbane was "Explore-a-saurus", which is actually one of Museum Victoria's travelling exhibitions that had previously been at our Scienceworks campus. Having already been at one of our sites recently, there are no plans for it to come to Melbourne Museum, however Melbourne Museum's Science and Life Gallery has long-term exhibitions of numerous Dinosaur skeletons and also an exhibition called "600 Million Years", which includes a pair of animatronic Dinosaurs which use state-of-the-art animatronics to bring them to life.

Gail
8 May, 2013 13:05

If you had a group of kids, how long would you allow to show them the dinosaur walk?

Not sure if you can answer this question but thought I'd give it a try. Oviraptor was considered to be an egg theif (hence it's name) because an oviraptor fossil was once found near a nest of eggs, and the scientists thought the oviraptor was trying to steal the eggs. I've also read that the scientists now think the eggs actually belonged to the oviraptor. So which is true? Was it an egg thief or not? If not, why do books and a recent National Geographic documentary I just watched maintain the notion that ovirpator stole other dinosaur eggs for food? Thanks for your time.

Good questions, Deanna - the interpretation of the Oviraptorid dinosaurs is a complicated one, but I'll try to be brief here. You're right, the name 'Oviraptor' translates as "egg theif"; the name was applied in the 1920's based on an assumption that the fossilised eggs found with the skeleton were in the process of being 'stolen', and the strange, toothless beak-like mouth thought to be an adaptation to breaking eggshells seemed to corroborate this. Other palaeontologists have since been a little critical of this interpretation, and newer discoveries of fossil skeletons of related dinosaurs like Citipati were found protecting their nests, and with evidence of their last meal - a lizard - as stomach contents. So, perhaps we've made a pre-emptive accusation and enshrined it in a name.

However, Oviraptorid dinosaurs had odd-looking skulls, particularly their beak-like mouths, and this makes it difficult to guess what they did eat. It's always hard to estimate the diet of an extinct animal, especially a toothless one. We can't rule out the possibility that Oviraptorids ate eggs at some point (as many carnivorous and omnivorous animals do), but the current interpretation is that the first Oviraptor that was described wasn't stealing eggs as the time of the fossil was preserved - it wasn't 'caught in the act', but this may not neccessarily mean it didn't do it at all for thier entire existence.

In any case, the name has stuck - no matter of innocence or guilt on stealing of eggs, Oviraptorid dinosaurs will remain with the accusational name of 'Egg thief', at least for now.

Deanna
9 February, 2014 15:58

Thank you so much for your response about the oviraptor! Yes, that makes sense. We can only make the best educated guess based off the evidence. My 5 year old son loves dinosaurs (beyond just thinking they're cool). He knows so much about them and maintains that when he grows up he wants to be a paleontologist. I greatly appreciate the education you provide to the public. We get good use out of our annual pass to the Melbourne Museum, and always stop by the Discovery Centre to look at all the specimens. Thanks again.

nadine :)
11 February, 2014 10:32

do you guys offer work experience in this department, i love dinosaurs and i would love to be able to interact with them! :)

Hi Amalia. Dinosaur Walk is a long-term exhibition here at Melbourne Museum; it opened in 2009 and will be on display for the next several years (at least) - it is located in our Science and Life Gallery at Melbourne Museum.

Discovery Centre
1 November, 2014 15:39

Hi Amalia, the dinosaur walk is likely to be on display for the foreseeable future. There are no plans at present to take that exhibition off display.